The Salt of the Earth
Directed by Wim Wenders and Juliano Ribeiro Salgado
France/Brazil/Italy, 2014
When Wim Wenders first saw Sebastiõ Salgado’s photographs, he knew he was looking at the work of an artistic genius. Salgado used his camera to document various indigenous peoples throughout the world, exploring the depths of little-known cultures and lifestyles. Much of his early work celebrated the heterogeneous nature of humanity, but as Salgado became more interested in the plights of war-ravaged nations, his photographs became darker and more provocative. The Salt of the Earth, co-directed by Wenders and Salgado’s son Juliano Ribeiro, delineates one man’s tumultuous relationship with humanity. As evidenced by Salgado’s extraordinary photographs, human beings are at once the most beautiful and the most appalling creatures to have ever walked the Earth.
Salgado initially studied to become an economist, as per the wishes of his father, but instead fell in love with photography in the late 1960s. After several years of shooting weddings and other formal events, he discovered his true passion: social photography. He began traveling to different areas around the globe, paying particular attention to various tribes throughout Africa and South America. In the early 80s, Salgado started working with Doctors Without Borders, documenting the devastation wreaked by the Ethiopian famine. His life – as well as his work – would never be the same. He would spend most of the ensuing two decades photographing the shattering effects of war and inhumanity.
The Salt of the Earth devotes much of its running time to displaying Salgado’s prints, which is ultimately a wise decision. As the man’s life is his photos, it seems only appropriate that his biography is primarily composed of them. There is no question as to why Wenders fell in love with Salgado’s prints. As the documentary displays excerpts from his various projects, it becomes clear that Salgado has an eye for capturing the human condition, for conveying the atrocities that people inflict on one another. The subjects in his photos – emaciated figures, mutilated corpses, decimated dwellings – are difficult to observe, but they must be observed. Salgado speaks truth through his camera, and The Salt of the Earth derives much of its power from the work of this compelling artist.
Not every moment in The Salt of the Earth achieves such impact. Specifically, the first section of the film, focused on Salgado’s early life, plays like History Channel-fodder due to Wenders’ conventional use of voiceover and childhood photographs. Whenever the film threatens to become too tedious, though, it needs only return to Salgado’s compelling snapshots. They constitute great artistry and compassion, and they solidify Salgado’s position as an exceptional humanitarian.
— Jacob Carter